The Boston Celtics, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Washington Wizards have reached an agreement that would send Kristaps Porzingis to the Celtics, according to Shams Charania, journalist for The Athletic. The deal would send Celtics guard Malcolm Brogdon, to the Clippers and the power forward of the Clippers, Marcus Morris, to the Wizards, along with the 30th pick in the draft. Porzingis has a 36 million player option that he had to exercise today at the latest.
The movement would achieve improve the Celtics inside line, who come from a disappointing loss in the Eastern Conference final against the Miami Heat. Reinforcement is essential as Grant Williams is a restricted free agent (He is related to the Mavericks), Robert Williams III has injury problems and Al Horford just turned 37. Porzingis is coming off a pretty good year in Washington on an individual level. He played in 65 games with the Wizards, his most since the 2016-17 season, averaging 23.2 points and 8.4 rebounds., also performing well in interior defense. The Celtics tend to focus on insiders who can shoot from distance, and Porzingis is probably one of the best options on the market in this regard. Last season he made 5.5 three-pointers per game and shot 38.5% from them.
As to For the Clippers, Brogdon is the pure point guard they’ve been looking for for years. He just won Sixth Man in Boston, and even In the event that the Clippers continue with Russell Westbrook, the two have different qualities with which a beneficial rotation of bases could be created for the team. The danger comes with Brogdon’s injuries. He missed 15 games last season and, in the previous three, he played just 146 games in total. With Kawhi Leonard and Paul George also frequently injuredthe Clippers would be making a big bet on a group of players who rarely manage to stay on the court for full seasons.
Finally, the Wizards are fully embarking on a rebuild after trading Bradley Beal to the Phoenix Suns. With that in mind, keeping Porzingis made little sense. If they could get something of value for him now that he’s healthy and coming off a good season, the best option was to find a way out now.